Timer management for session initiation protocol

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for managing timers for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) that facilitates network communications in an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) are disclosed. Based on monitored network traffic, network performance measures can be determined to form a basis for dynamic configuration of SIP timers, which may reflect real time network status and optimize SIP based network communication.

BACKGROUND

Generally described, computing devices can be used to exchange data viaa communication network. In one embodiment, mobile computing devicesutilize a wireless communication network provided by a wireless serviceprovider to facilitate the exchange of information in accordance withone or more wireless communication protocols. For example, a wirelessservice provider can maintain a wireless communication network in whicha set of mobile devices are configured to exchange information inaccordance with a second generation wireless communication protocol,such as the Global System for Mobile Communication wirelesscommunication protocol (e.g., GSM). In another example, the wirelessservice provider can also maintain another wireless communicationnetwork in which mobile devices are configured to exchange informationin accordance with a third generation or fourth generation wirelesscommunication protocol such as the Wideband Code Division MultipleAccess (“WCDMA”) or Long Term Evolution (“LTE”) wireless communicationprotocols.

Through advancements in wireless access technologies, Internet Protocol(IP) based communications for multimedia applications became availablefor various types of mobile devices. Examples of such applicationsinclude white board discussions, video conferencing, Push to talk overCellular (PoC), Voice over IP, real-time content sharing includingvideos/audio files, instant messaging, interactive gaming, and the like.An architectural framework for delivering Internet Protocol (IP)multimedia to mobile users over various types of wireless and fixednetworks to provide the same level of standardization is called the IPMultimedia Subsystem (IMS). Many implementations of IMS employ SessionInitiation Protocol (SIP) for signaling and controlling multimediacommunication sessions, including, for example, to establish, modify,and terminate media sessions for various applications. Different SIPtimers control the retries, time-outs, or other temporal aspects ofcommunications among various nodes implementing IMS functionalities inaccordance with the Session Initiation Protocol.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Throughout the drawings, reference numbers may be re-used to indicatecorrespondence between referenced elements. The drawings are provided toillustrate example embodiments described herein and are not intended tolimit the scope of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary IMS network environment thatincludes IMS nodes and user devices.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of exemplary components of an IMS node in theIMS network environment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting a SIP timer management routineillustratively implemented by an IMS node in the IMS network environmentof FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative functional block diagram of a computing devicefor management of SIP timer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally described, aspects of the present disclosure are directed tothe management of timers for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) thatfacilitates network communications in an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS).In some aspects, SIP timers govern the logic on how often IMS nodes(e.g., I-CSCF, TAS, S-CSCF, P-CSCF, Presence Server, or RMS) attempt toretry communications (as needed when first request fails) for criticalIMS signaling messages. In other aspects, SIP timers also govern thelogic on how long an IMS node will declare a time-out in networkcommunication. As such, the amount of traffic for retries for differentSIP signaling transactions (e.g., INVITE, REGISTER, SUBSCRIBER, NOTIFY,MESSAGE, or ACK) are closely associated with the setting of SIP timers.The general operation of SIP timers are prescribed in Request forComments (RFC) 3261 of The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), theentirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Typically, SIP timers are set by an operator or administrator of the IMSnetwork to certain pre-configured static values. However, given the sizeof network, the number of network nodes, the topology of networkconnections, and the dynamic nature of network traffic involved,statically configured SIP timers may cause suboptimal performance oreven detrimental effects on the IMS. For example, non-optimal settingsof SIP timers can flood the IMS nodes with extra signaling and lead toan outage. The present disclosure provides systems and methods fordynamic SIP timer settings based on real-time or predicted networkstatus in the IMS. By adopting this dynamic approach for SIP timersettings, improved or optimal signaling for user device and IMS networkinteraction can be ensured, which may be invoked in every IMStransaction for services such as Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE),Video over Long-Term Evolution (ViLTE), Rich Communications Services(RCS), Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWifi), or the like. Therefore, by dynamicallyadjusting applicable SIP timers, IMS network signaling may becomeresilient to real time dynamics in the overall network and may beself-tuned in response to various network scenarios.

In an illustrative embodiment, individual IMS nodes monitor SIP relatednetwork communications. The IMS nodes may monitor the SIP relatednetwork communications on a periodic basis or alternatively on at leasta semi-continuous basis. Illustratively, the IMS node may monitor andrecord the timing, origin, destination, type, or other characteristicsassociated with any SIP message that is sent, forwarded, received, orotherwise traveled through the IMS node. Alternatively or in addition,the IMS node may obtain transport layer network characteristics (e.g.,Round Trip Time (RTT) in accordance with Transmission Control Protocol(TCP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP)) corresponding to the SIPmessages. The IMS node then determines network performance measure(s)that may serve as the basis for SIP timer settings. Illustratively, theIMS node may aggregate or otherwise analyze the monitored data ofnetwork communication over a most recent period of time (e.g.,15-minutes) to generate various network performance statistics, such asaverage RTT, latency, bandwidth, throughput, jitter, error rate, or thelike.

The IMS node further determines settings for various SIP timers based onthe network performance measure(s). For example, certain SIP timer canbe set to a multiple of the average RTT, which may be further weightedor offset by one or more other network performance factors, such asjitter or error rate. In some embodiments, different IMS nodes maydetermine different SIP timer settings in accordance with the networkperformance measures determined by individual IMS nodes. In otherembodiments, the network performance measure(s) can be determined by asystem or service associated with multiple IMS nodes, thus serving asthe basis for SIP timer setting for all the associated IMS nodes. OnceSIP timer settings are determined, individual IMS node applies the SIPtimer settings locally, for example, by making appropriate changes toone or more SIP configuration files. By repeating this process at somepredetermined frequency, SIP timers may be updated to adapt to mostrecent network status, which allows SIP traffic to be optimized in theIMS.

Although described with reference to an IMS network, elements of thepresent disclosure are not limited to the embodiment so illustrated. Forexample, the systems, methods, and functionalities disclosed herein maybe used to analyze any network utilizing SIP for communications on thenetwork. As another example, although the term user device or userequipment (UE) is used in this document, the term represents any type ofdevice having a component for communicating with one or more otherdevices via one or more communication paths. Such communication pathscan include wireless communication paths (via infra-red, RF, optical,terrestrial, or satellite communication media) and wired communicationpaths. Still further, although the present disclosure is described withregard to specific methodologies and frameworks for network monitoring,network performance determination, SIP timer setting and application,the present disclosure should not be construed to require combination ofthe disclosed embodiments or any specific variation unless suchcombination or variation is expressly identified.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary IMS network environment 100that includes IMS nodes 122 and user devices 106. The IMS networkenvironment 100 includes an Application/Service Layer 110, an IMS Layer120, and one or more access gateway servers 130. The IMS networkenvironment 100 further includes one or more networks 102, 104 such asan IP multimedia and telephony core network, as generally defined by3GPP and 3GPP2 standards and organizations based on IETF Internetprotocols.

As shown in FIG. 1, the Application/Service Layer 110 includes a homesubscriber server (HSS) 116, one or more application service (AS)servers 112 and the like. In one embodiment, the HSS 116 may be acentral repository/database that contains subscriber- or user-specificdata, including, but not limited to, user authorizations, servicepermissions, user profiles, user preferences, etc. The HSS 116 may beconfigured to integrate several functions/elements, includingauthentication and authorization, and the like. The AS servers 112 mayhost and execute services through the IMS layer 120 using a SessionInitiation Protocol (SIP).

The IMS layer 120 includes several types of IMS nodes 122. In general,the IMS layer 120 carries out the primary SIP signaling functions in theIMS network environment 100. As discussed above, the IMS nodes mayinclude one or more Proxy-CSCFs (P-CSCFs), Interrogating-CSCFs(I-CSCFs), Serving-CSCFs (S-CSCFs), Telephony Application Servers(TAS's), Presence Servers, Rich Messaging Servers (RMS's), or the like.By way of an exemplary series of SIP signaling transactions, when auser, via a user device, initiates a call request, a P-CSCF node is atthe entry point of a network (visitor or home network) where the callrequest is received from the user device. Upon receipt of a request to acall connection, the P-CSCF node, in turn, sends a call signaling to anI-CSCF node of the home network, which determines an S-CSCF noderesponsible for delivering the services to the user device. Generallystated, the I-CSCF node learns the identity of a proper S-CSCF node bycommunicating with the HSS 116. The S-CSCF node executes comprehensivecall control based on the services of the user (calling party) and thecalled party. The S-CSCF node may extract the service information of theuser from the HSS 116, which defines the trigger points (TP) of servicesand pointers to SIP Application Servers (such as AS 112 depicted inFIG. 1) where the specific application (service) logic resides. Asdiscussed above, various SIP timers control or otherwise affect thisexemplary series of SIP signaling transactions.

From a functional perspective, the IMS layer 120 provides a horizontalcontrol layer that isolates the access network from theApplication/Service layer 120. Generally, the Application/Service layer110 does not need to have its own control functions, as the IMS layer120 is used for providing control functions. This allows easierintegration and deployment of services or modifications on the IMSinfrastructure. Illustratively, individual IMS nodes 122 may beconfigured to execute computer-executable code to implement variousmethods or processes disclosed herein, such as network communicationmonitoring, network performance determination, SIP timer settingdetermination, SIP timer application, or the like.

In some embodiments, the IMS network environment 100 comprises one ormore networks that may correspond to a number of IP-based and othernetworks such as the Internet, DSL networks, public switched telephonenetworks (“PSTN”) and other wire-line networks (e.g., SS7-basednetworks), wireless networks such as those using CDMA, GSM, IEEE802.11x, and/or UMTS communications or the like, and local areanetworks. For example, an IP-core network 102 is interfaced with othernetworks 104 through an access gateway server 130. In one embodiment, anaccess gateway server 130 may include a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN)for General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a Packet Data Gateway (PDG) forWiFi, Systems Architecture Evolution Gateway (SAE-GW) or a Packet DataNetwork Gateway (PDN-GW) for 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), or thelike.

In the IMS network environment 100, the user devices or User Equipments(UEs) 106 may be electronic devices capable of communicating with oneanother over the network(s) in the IMS network environment 100. In someembodiments, the user devices 106 may include computing devices,wire-line connected communication devices such as conventionaltelephones and enhanced/multimedia-capable telephones, wireless devicessuch as mobile phones, wireless PDA's, wireless devices with high-speeddata transfer capabilities, such as those compliant with “3G,” “4G” or“LTE” standards, and the like. As will be well appreciated, thecomputing/communication devices may include a variety of configurationsor forms such as, but not limited to, laptop or tablet computers,personal digital assistants (PDAs), hybrid PDA/mobile phones, mobilephones, smart phones, media players, home messaging hub devices, digitalpicture frame devices, or the like.

Further, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the userdevices 106 communicate with one another over the networks in a standardmanner, depending on the particular networks used and the particulartype of terminals. Each user device may cover communications frequencybands such as the cellular telephone bands at 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800MHz, and 1900 MHz, the global positioning system (GPS) band, dataservice bands such as the 3G data communications band (e.g., theUniversal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) communication band),the WiFi® (IEEE 802.11) band, the Bluetooth® band and the like. In someembodiments, the user device may include several circuitries that arerequired to support one or more of following: the General Packet RadioService (GPRS) standard, Enhanced Digital GSM Evolution (EDGE), orEvolution of GSM (E-GSM) standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)standard, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA or WCDMA)standard, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM) standard, TimeDivision Multiple Access (TDMA) standard, and the other standards.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of exemplary components of an IMS node 122 inthe IMS network environment 100 of FIG. 1. Individual IMS nodes 122 maycorrespond to a networked computing device (e.g., a server) or a groupof interconnected computing devices. In some embodiments, a samecomputing device may implement at least some functionalities ofdifferent IMS nodes 122. In other embodiments, IMS nodes 122 may beimplemented on one or more virtual machines that are hosted on one ormore computing devices.

Among other things, an IMS node 122 may include a communication monitor210 and a SIP timer manager 220. Illustratively, the communicationmonitor 210 can be configured to monitor SIP based networkcommunications that originate, relay, pass-through, or end at the IMSnode 122. The communication monitor 210 may constantly update one ormore log files or databases to keep track of various characteristics,measurements, or other attributes on different network layers related toany SIP based network communications. In some embodiments, thecommunication monitor 210 may further aggregate the monitored data toproduce various statistics of network performance for use by the SIPtimer manager 220.

Illustratively, the SIP timer manager 220 can be configured to analyzethe data generated by the communication monitor 210 and to determineappropriate value settings for various SIP timers. For example, SIPtimer values can be a multiple of a measured or estimated RTT value,which may be further weighted or offset by one or more other networkperformance factors, such as jitter or error rate. In some embodiments,different IMS nodes 122 each may have a separate SIP timer manager 220specifically managing SIP timers for the IMS node. In other embodiments,a group of IMS nodes 122 may share a same SIP timer manager 220 (e.g.,implemented on a dedicated IMS node 122 or one or more separatecomputing devices) that collects and analyzes data from multiplecommunication monitors 210 and determines proper SIP timer settings formultiple IMS nodes 122 within the group. The SIP timer manager 220 mayfurther make changes to one or more SIP configuration files on anassociated IMS node 122 to apply the new SIP timer settings.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting a SIP timer management routine 300illustratively implemented by an IMS node 122 in the IMS networkenvironment 100 of FIG. 1. At block 302, the IMS node 122 monitorsnetwork communication that originates, passes through, relays, or endsat the IMS node 122. In some embodiments, the IMS node 122 monitorsnetwork traffic related to SIP message transmissions on different layersof the network (e.g., the IMS layer, the transport layer, or the like).In other embodiments, the IMS node 122 monitors network traffic relatedto non-SIP transactions as well. Illustratively, the IMS node 122 mayrecord information such as time stamps upon receipt or transmission of amessage, the type, length, or other characteristics of a message, theorigin, destination, or other network path information of a message, orthe like. Such monitored network traffic data may be stored locally atthe IMS node 122, or, remotely at a database associated with one or moreIMS nodes 122.

At block 304, the IMS node 122 may determine various network performancemeasures based on the monitored network traffic data. Illustratively,the IMS node 122 may track each SIP message on the SIP layer that istransmitted from the IMS node 122 over a defined recent period of time(e.g., most recent hour). The IMS node 122 may determine a duration oftime (hereinafter “SIP transaction time”) that the IMS node 122 needs towait before receiving an acknowledgement or other handshake message froma peer node in response to a SIP message transmitted by the IMS node122. Alternatively or in addition, the IMS node 122 may track each datapacket on the transport layer that is related to SIP messagestransmitted from the IMS node 122 over a defined recent period of time(e.g., most recent 10 minutes), and determine a corresponding RTT forthe data packet. In some embodiments, the IMS node 122 may determineRTTs by pinging peer nodes via transport layer protocols (e.g., InternetControl Message Protocol (ICMP) or the like). The SIP transaction timesor RTT's can be aggregated, averaged, weighted, or otherwise modifiedmathematically to serve as a basis for SIP timer settings. As discussedabove, the IMS node 122 may further determine the latency, bandwidth,throughput, jitter, error rate, or other network performance measures byaggregating or otherwise analyzing the monitored network traffic data.

At block 306, the IMS node 122 determines SIP timer settings based onthe network performance measures as determined at block 304. Dependingon the type of the IMS node 122 and the functionalities performed,settings for different SIP timer(s) (e.g., Timers A-K as indicated inIETF RFC 3261, Page 264) may be determined based on different criteriaor formulae. For example, certain SIP timer values can be a multiple ofa measured or estimated RTT value, which may be further weighted oroffset by one or more other network performance factors, such as jitteror error rate. As another example, certain SIP timer values can be amaximum SIP transaction time over a defined period of time (e.g., themost recent 24 hours) plus a cushion time, which may be further weightedor offset by one or more other network performance factors, such asjitter or error rate.

In some embodiment, a group of IMS nodes 122 may determine SIP timersettings in a collective way. For example, each IMS node 122 maytransmit locally determined network performance measures to a sharedmanagement service, which may determine a collective basis (e.g., acollective RTT or SIP transaction time) for SIP timer setting byweighting and combining the network performance measures associated withdifferent IMS nodes 122. The shared management service may return thecollective basis to individual IMS nodes 122, who may then determine SIPtimer settings based thereon.

At block 308, the IMS node 122 applies one or more SIP timer settings asdetermined. Illustratively, the IMS node 122 may modify or otherwiseupdate one or more SIP configuration files to change applicable SIPtimer settings. After the SIP configuration files are updated properly,the IMS node 122 may force or otherwise trigger reloading of local SIPcontrolling logic. In some embodiments, the IMS node 122 may initiate arestart or reboot of some SIP related services. In some embodiments, theIMS node 122 may limit the application of the new SIP timer settings toa specified period of time (e.g., the next 12 hours).

At block 310, the IMS node 122 determines whether SIP timer managementshould continue. In some embodiments, the IMS node 122 may determinewhether a certain level of network performance has been reached orwhether the IMS node 122 currently has sufficient computing resourcesfor continued SIP timer management. If the IMS node 122 determines tocontinue SIP timer management, the routine 300 proceeds to block 302.Otherwise, the routine 300 ends at block 312. In some embodiment, theroutine 300 is implemented periodically (e.g., hourly or daily) with orwithout regard to assessment of network performance.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative functional block diagram of a computing devicefor management of SIP timer. The computing device 400 can be a server orother computing device, and can comprise a processing unit 402, anetwork interface 404, a computer readable medium drive 406, aninput/output device interface 408, and a memory 410. The networkinterface 404 can provide connectivity to one or more networks (e.g.,the network 102) or computing systems. The processing unit 404 canreceive information and instructions from other computing systems orservices via the network interface 404. The network interface 404 canalso store data directly to memory 410. The processing unit 402 cancommunicate to and from memory 410 and output information to an optionaldisplay 418 via the input/output device interface 408. The input/outputdevice interface 408 can also accept input from the optional inputdevice 420, such as a keyboard, mouse, digital pen, microphone, massstorage device, etc.

The memory 410 contains computer program instructions that theprocessing unit 402 executes in order to implement one or moreembodiments. The memory 410 generally includes RAM, ROM, and/or otherpersistent, non-transitory computer readable media. The memory 410 canstore an operating system 412 that provides computer programinstructions for use by the processing unit 402 or other elementsincluded in the computing device in the general administration andoperation of the computing device 400. The memory 410 can furtherinclude computer program instructions and other information forimplementing aspects of the present disclosure. For example, in oneembodiment, the memory 410 includes communication monitoring software414 and SIP timer management software 416 that implements aspects of thepresent disclosure. The communication monitoring software 414 mayillustratively correspond to all or some of the components of thecommunication monitor 210 depicted in FIG. 2, or to implement someportion of the illustrative routine 300 of FIG. 3. The SIP timermanagement software 416 may illustratively correspond to all or some ofthe components of the SIP manager 220 depicted in FIG. 2, or toimplement some portion of the illustrative routine 300 of FIG. 3.

The computing device 400 may further comprise communication monitoringhardware 430 and SIP timer management hardware 440. The communicationmonitoring hardware 430 and the SIP timer management hardware 440 mayillustratively implement aspects of the present disclosure, such ascomponents of the communication monitor 210 and SIP manager 220 depictedin FIG. 2, or relevant portions of the illustrative routine 300 of FIG.3, respectively. In some embodiments, the communication monitoringhardware 430 and SIP timer management hardware 440 may be implemented inpart with the processing unit 402, the computer readable medium drive406, or other elements of the computing device 400.

The elements included in the computing device 400 may be coupled by abus 490. The bus 490 may be a data bus, communication bus, or other busmechanism to enable the various components of the computing device 400to exchange information. In some embodiments, the computing device 400may include additional or fewer components than are shown in FIG. 4. Forexample, a computing device 400 may include more than one processingunit 402 and computer readable medium drive 406. In another example, thecomputing device 402 may not be coupled to a display 418 or an inputdevice 420. In still another example, the communication monitoringsoftware 414, SIP timer management software 416, the communicationmonitoring hardware 430, or the SIP timer management hardware 440 mayinclude various interdependent or independent subcomponents implementingdifferent aspects of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, two ormore computing devices 400 may together form a computer system forexecuting features of the present disclosure.

Depending on the embodiment, certain acts, events, or functions of anyof the methods described herein can be performed in a differentsequence, can be added, merged, or left out altogether (e.g., not alldescribed acts or events are necessary for the practice of thealgorithm). Moreover, in certain embodiments, acts or events can beperformed concurrently, e.g., through multi-threaded processing,interrupt processing, or multiple processors or processor cores or onother parallel architectures, rather than sequentially.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and method elementsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can beimplemented as electronic hardware (e.g., application-specific logiccircuitry), computer software executed by hardware, or combinations ofboth. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware andsoftware, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, and stepshave been described above generally in terms of their functionality.Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, or as softwareexecuted by hardware, depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. The described functionalitycan be implemented in varying ways for each particular application, butsuch implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks and modules described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented orperformed by a computing device, such as a general purpose processor, adigital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform thefunctions described herein. A general purpose processor can be amicroprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor can be acontroller, microcontroller, or state machine, combinations of the same,or the like. A processor can also be implemented as a combination ofcomputing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, aplurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunctionwith a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The elements of a method, process, or algorithm described in connectionwith the embodiments disclosed herein can be embodied directly inhardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in acombination of the two. A software module can reside in RAM memory,flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, harddisk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM or any other form of computer-readablestorage medium known in the art. A storage medium can be coupled to theprocessor such that the processor can read information from, and writeinformation to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storagemedium can be integral to the processor. The processor and the storagemedium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal. Inthe alternative, the processor and the storage medium can reside asdiscrete components in a user terminal.

Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “might,”“may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, orotherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intendedto convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments donot include, certain features, elements, and/or states. Thus, suchconditional language is not generally intended to imply that features,elements and/or states are in any way required for one or moreembodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logicfor deciding, with or without author input or prompting, whether thesefeatures, elements and/or states are included or are to be performed inany particular embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “including,”“having,” “involving,” and the like are synonymous and are usedinclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additionalelements, features, acts, operations and so forth. Also, the term “or”is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so thatwhen used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or”means one, some, or all of the elements in the list.

Disjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, or Z,”unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with thecontext as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may beeither X, Y, or Z, or any combination thereof (e.g., X, Y, and/or Z).Thus, such disjunctive language is not generally intended to, and shouldnot, imply that certain embodiments require at least one of X, at leastone of Y or at least one of Z to each be present.

Unless otherwise explicitly stated, articles such as “a” or “an” shouldgenerally be interpreted to include one or more described items.Accordingly, phrases such as “a device configured to” are intended toinclude one or more recited devices. Such one or more recited devicescan also be collectively configured to carry out the stated recitations.For example, “a processor configured to carry out recitations A, B, andC” can include a first processor configured to carry out recitation Aworking in conjunction with a second processor configured to carry outrecitations B and C.

While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointedout novel features as applied to various embodiments, it will beunderstood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in theform and details of the devices or algorithms illustrated can be madewithout departing from the spirit of the disclosure. As will berecognized, certain embodiments described herein can be embodied withina form that does not provide all of the features and benefits set forthherein, as some features can be used or practiced separately fromothers. All changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for managingSession Initiation Protocol (SIP) based communications among a pluralityof nodes within an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), the method comprising:for a first period of time, monitoring SIP based network traffic thatoriginates from a target node of the plurality of nodes; determining atleast one network performance measure based at least partly on themonitored SIP based network traffic; determining a setting for at leastone SIP timer that governs a type of SIP based network communicationbased at least partly on the at least one network performance measure;and applying, by the target node of the plurality of nodes, the settingfor the at least one SIP timer toward SIP based network communicationthat originates from the target node during a second period of time. 2.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the plurality ofnodes within the IMS includes at least one of a Proxy-CSCF (P-CSCF),Interrogating-CSCF (I-CSCF), Serving-CSCF (S-CSCF), TelephonyApplication Server (TAS), Presence Server, or Rich Messaging Server(RMS).
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereindetermining at least one network performance measure comprisesdetermining a transport layer Round Trip Time (RTT).
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 3, determining a setting for atleast one SIP timer comprises determining the at least one SIP timerbased at least partly on a multiple of the RTT.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising: for a thirdperiod of time, monitoring SIP based network traffic that originatesfrom the target node; determining a new setting for the at least one SIPbased at least partly on the monitored SIP based network traffic for thethird period of time; and applying, by the target node of the pluralityof nodes, the new setting for the at least one SIP timer toward SIPbased network communication that originates from the target node duringa fourth period of time.
 6. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumstoring computer-executable instructions that, when executed by aprocessor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:determining one or more first network performance measures based atleast partly on Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) based network trafficassociated with a first IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) node during afirst period of time; configuring at least one SIP timer for SIP basednetwork communication within at least a portion of the IMS based atleast partly on the one or more network measures; and responsive toconfiguring the at least one SIP timer, monitoring SIP based networktraffic associated with the first IMS node during a second period oftime.
 7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, whereindetermining one or more first network performance measures compriseanalyzing network traffic related to SIP message transmissions on one ormore network layers.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 7, wherein the one or more network layers include at least one ofa transport layer or IMS layer.
 9. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 6, wherein determining one or more first networkperformance measures comprises determining at least one of latency,bandwidth, throughput, jitter, or error rate.
 10. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein configuring at least oneSIP timer comprises making changes to one or more SIP configurationfiles associated with the first IMS node.
 11. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the operations furthercomprise determining one or more second network performance measuresbased on SIP based network traffic associate with a second IMS node. 12.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein theoperations further comprise deriving a collective basis for SIP timerconfiguration based on the one or more first network performancemeasures and the one or more second network performance measures. 13.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, whereinconfiguring at least one SIP timer comprises making changes to one ormore SIP configuration files associated with the second IMS node.
 14. Asystem comprising a plurality of computing devices in communication withone another in accordance with Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) via oneor more networks, wherein a target computing device of the plurality ofcomputing devices is configured to: determining one or more networkperformance measures based at least partly on SIP based network trafficassociated with at least a first portion of the one or more networksduring a first period of time; determining at least one SIP timerconfiguration for SIP based network communication based at least partlyon the one or more network performance measures; and causing SIP basednetwork communication in accordance with the at least one SIP timerconfiguration within the at least a second portion of the one or morenetworks during a second period of time.
 15. The system of claim 14,wherein the first portion of the one or more networks includes thetarget computing device.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein the firstportion and the second portion of the one or more networks include atleast one computing device in common.
 17. The system of claim 14,wherein the target computing device is further configured to monitor SIPbased network traffic that at least originates, passes through, or endsat the target computing device.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein thetarget computing device is further configured to monitor non-SIP basednetwork traffic that at least originates, passes through, or ends at thetarget computing device.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein determiningone or more network performance measures comprises pinging anothercomputing device of the plurality of computing devices via a transportlayer protocol.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the transport layerprotocol includes Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP).